Giving Blood--The Gift of Life.

At the end of 1999, just after the holidays, a few of my coworkers and I donated blood at a Red Cross blood drive in our building. I received a notice in the mail a few weeks later. I learned that the Red Cross “discarded the unit” I donated. A letter explaining the reason said that it had the “Antibodies to Hepatitis B virus (anti-HCV, EIA).”

I called my doctor with the news and got tested immediately. My tests came back and I did not have Hepatitis B. It was explained to me that at some time in my life I had been exposed to Hepatitis B; most likely it was passed along to me from my mother in the womb.

I started researching this topic online and I stumbled upon the Holt International website, which had a page dedicated to Koreans and Hepatitis B. Apparently exposure to the virus was not uncommon among Koreans. Holt was the agency my parents had used to adopt me from Il San, South Korea.

During my research, I also discovered that Holt had a Voluntary Adoption Registry (VAR). If both the adoptee and biological parents register they would be notified. I registered. To this day, nothing has ever come of my search.

Not knowing my biological history has never been an issue for me. But, I do wonder if I have siblings out there, perhaps here in America or in South Korea. When I hear stories of adopted siblings discovering each other, I wonder if I were to pursue my search further what would I find?

During my search for my biological parents, I discovered a newfound appreciation for what my parents went through to adopt me. With three boys between the ages of five and ten, they wanted a girl and not any girl. I didn't know it then but I was truly blessed.

A quote I learned early in my youth still resonates for me today, “Some kids are expected, some are selected.”